Video games, the male brain, and addiction

The perception of the video gamer by the general public starts with thefact that said gamer is usually a he. While this isn't always accurate (Elle brought more consoles to our marriage than I did), by and large most video gamers have a Y chromosome.
Some studies in the past have identified a link between theneurophysiological mechanisms behind dependence and video games; brainscans have shown that success in a game results in the release ofdopamine in part of the reward circuit in the brain. Now a study from ateam at Stanford University have examined whether there might be anyneurological differences between men and women when it comes to videogames and brain activation.
Male and female student volunteers were presented with a test whichinvolved clicking on moving balls when they appeared on one half of thescreen. The screen was divided by a solid line, and the balls alwaysappeared in one half and traveled towards the solid line. Although thevolunteers were not told, the test had both game and controlconditions. Under game conditions, if the balls reached the solid linebefore they were clicked on, the line would move such that the emptyspace got smaller. Clicking the balls and preventing them from gettingclose to the solid line resulted in the line moving such that the emptyspace grew. Control conditions were identical, but the solid lineremained fixed in place throughout. Surveys taken of the volunteersbeforehand showed no gender differences in video gaming habits.
There was no difference in motor performance-that is to say that menand women both had the same skill, but male volunteers weresignificantly quicker to pick up on how the game worked, and scoredbetter than their female counterparts. Using fMRI scanners, the authorsthen generated brain activation profiles for the gamers, and theydiscovered a significant difference between male and female brains: themale brains showed a greater activation of the right nucleus accumbens,right amygdala and the bilateral orbitofrontal cortex. In addition,there was a positive correlation between success in the test game andmale brain activation, but not in female brains.
Now, let's be clear. This research does not say that male gamers arevideo game addicts, nor that women cannot game due to braindifferences. What it does show, however, is that when male brains arepresented with a video game, they show greater activation in the rewardcenters of the brain than their female counterparts, and those rewardcenters are also very important in addiction. Of course, you shouldn'task Elle whether I showed signs of being a Forza addict this weekend...